What to bring to a conference
The annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers begins tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.
We bring you this compiled list of things to bring and the kinds of goals you can set to get the most out of your conference, or any conference or meeting you attend.
- Think about what you want to get out of conference. This will help determine how you spend your time and with whom.
- A lot of people don’t know anyone. Reach out to unfamiliar faces, start conversations and learn how other people do what they do. If you want to have a more memorable relationship, ask questions besides what they do and where they are from. Try asking if they brought a bathing suit, what their favorite class is, what books they are reading, etc.
- Use your time there to practice your elevator speech. You’ll probably
meet at least 50 new people. Try out your elevator speech at least 20 times.
- Do take a photo with the president and others from your community. You can use them for PR.
Good photos to take:
A group of organizers who all live in the same geographic area. They all have their own little newspapers that
will often run a photo.
Organizers who are all have the same niche. If all the local Senior
Organizers take a photo and submit a press release to a senior newspaper, it
could see print.
The ultimate list ow what to pack:
* Lots of business cards
* Checkbook and business credit card (if you have one)
* Writing pad and pens
* Highlighter and sharpie pens – for hilighting conference handouts
* Return address labels for the sign up sheets at the many vendor booths
* Business card plastic sheets with three holes to organize all the business
cards you get, or a business card wallet
* A plastic envelope for brochures you collect
* Camera for PR & fun photos with the president and other organizers
* Name label for your conference notebook
* Big tote bag so you don’t have the exact same one that everyone else is
carrying.
* Luggage tag for (or something obvious to mark) the bag you might carry
around during conference.
* Bathing suit
* Exercise clothing
* Sweater/jacket for cold meeting rooms and cold nights
* Your hotel and airline reservation info!
* Post it notes/flags for marking the pages of your conference handouts
* chargers for your Cell phone, pda and other gadgets – marked with your name in case you leave them behind.
* A great attitude
After Conference:
- Avoid having a work day the day you return from conference. You’ll want some time to decompress, unpack, and process all the information you learned.
- Contact all the people who offered extra resources for you in their workshops and get the info.
- Fill out your evaluations so you get CEU credits
- Chat with others on the NAPO chat and find out what the best sessions were that you missed so you can get a copy of the recording.
- Send emails or handwritten notes to the people you met and would like to keep in touch with.
See you in Columbus!
I’ll be teaching a workshop on Making Money from Virtual Classes.
The corresponding workbook will be available starting on Saturday 4/24/10 at http://tinyurl.com/napocon2010
– Allison
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